The scarcity of public toilets or restrooms has caused a great deal of discomfort and annoyance to countless people who need the convenience of such facilities. This is especially true in urban areas. The civic problem created by such scarcity and the public nuisance resulting therefrom has been exacerbated by the fact that even among those public toilets provided in subway stations and parks many have been closed because of vandalism and misuse. The consequences of this situation is an increasing incidence of public urination with its accompanying demeaning of city life.
This overall problem has led to increasing demands for the installation of sidewalk toilet booths of the type that are presently being installed in Paris and London by their British manufacturer, Street Equipment, Ltd, as well as other measures to overcome the problem.
The sanitary garment provided by the invention is suitable for men who experience difficulty in bladder control, or who frequently travel in busy areas that lack "comfort" facilities, and especially for older men who have medical problems or who are taking medications such as diuretics, and who are sensitive to the problems heretofore mentioned.
Applicant is unaware of any prior art relating to the subject matter of the invention. However, the following statement was noted in a New York Times editorial on Nov. 5, 1990 calling for the provision of sidewalk toilet booths, "By the 18th century, some European cities were reduced to reliance on street vendors who offered the use of buckets and the privacy of a voluminous cloak" Because of the antiquity of the arrangement referred to and the absence of any intervening improvements, applicant does not believe that the use of a bucket and voluminous cloak is pertinent prior art so far as his invention is concerned.